We are all serving time on death row; only the length of our stay is indeterminate. Dead people, walking. If our lives are to be fulfilling, we must be grateful for the experience alone.

That is my theory to explain the I don’t knows. It’s human.

I don’t see a point in advertising my marital status when men don’t. Completely ridiculous.

I feel like no matter what happens in my career endeavors after today, going to grad school is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

It is a cliche, and it is also true, that humor springs from existential pain – from a need to blunt the awareness that life is essentially a fatal disease of unpredictable symptoms and unknown duration.

The one thing an aspiring writer must understand is that it’s hard. If you think it’s not hard, you’re not doing it right.

I don’t think there is prejudice against atheists the same way there is prejudice against fat people. I don’t think people hate or contemn atheists; I think people feel sorry for atheists.

The one thing an aspiring writer must understand is that it's hard. If you think it's not hard, you're not doing it right.

Ask creative people where they get their ideas, and they will roll their eyes. It's the most common question, but it's also a bad one because the answer is inevitably disappointing. From the inside, creativity seems like an arduous task, often involving plebeian, imperfect choices, driven less by inspiration than by deadline.

I like to eat alone in restaurants, with a book, particularly if I am out of town, alone, on business. It's relaxing. I feel not even a twinge of embarrassment. Is this gender-related? Is there a lingering feeling among women that if they are alone in public, they will be judged to be spinsters or spinsters-to-be?